The UN officials have warned that by the end of the year the number of refugees coming to Europe may reach 10 million.
They highlighted the fact that the 8 thousand asylum seekers coming to Europe every day is only the tip of the iceberg, and Europe must brace itself for millions more to come.

Due to Iraqi forces' attack on Islamic State strongholds millions of people have already left their homes and heading for Europe said the UN Iraq's Humanitarian Coordinator Dominik Bartsch.

As a result of the fighting, 3.2 million people have already left their homes; 10% of them live in refugee camps and the rest with relatives or in abandoned buildings.

The UN coordinator also revealed that a cholera epidemic broke out in Iraq warning that the situation in the country is dramatically deteriorating.

In three provinces, Najaf, Baghdad and Babil a total of 1,300 cholera cases have been recorded. "We fear that the epidemic will quickly spread to other parts of the country" said Bartsch adding that lack of money for health care, and lack of food and water supply is a big problem in some regions of Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees are already on their way to Europe. Initially, these people believed that they could return home in a few months' time, but they realized that this was an unrealistic dream Bartsch added.

They can't send their children to school, and they have no income, which is exacerbated by decline in humanitarian assistance creating conditions that forcing these people to go to Europe explained the UN official.

The current influx of refugees into Europe is just the tip of the iceberg. The UN commissioner do not expect that the flood of refugees into Europe let up anytime soon; he didn't rule out that millions of people will go to Europe before the year ends.

Ending the Syrian "civil war" and consolidating Iraq's neighbors would be needed to stop mass migration; but until that happens the influx of refugees into Europe will continue.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the number of children fled to Europe have already reached 133 thousand.